Windows 8:一款难当重任的操作系统?

Forrester Research Inc. found that about one-third of companies it surveyed plan to adopt Windows 8 eventually, while 57% haven't considered Windows 8 yet or plan to skip it. At the same point before Windows 7 was released in 2009, two-thirds of companies surveyed said they planned to migrate to Windows 7, and 28% said they hadn't yet considered Windows 7 or planned to skip it. One difference is in 2009 many businesses had been waiting for years to update old Windows software. Now, many have spent millions of dollars installing Windows 7 and are reluctant to spend the money again so soon.
美国弗雷斯特研究公司(Forrester Research Inc.)发现，三分之一的受调查企业计划最终采用Windows 8，57%的企业要么还没有考虑采用Windows 8，要么打算跳过。2009年Windows 7发布之前的同一时间，三分之二的受调查企业表示打算升级为Windows 7，28%的企业表示还没有考虑采用或打算跳过。2009年的一个不同之处是，很多企业为升级老版Windows系统已经等了好几年。而现在，很多企业已经斥巨资安装Windows 7，不愿意这么快又花一笔钱。

One fan of Windows 8 is Joe Simon, chief technical officer of Advance Publications Inc.'s Condé Nast, the New York publisher of Vanity Fair and Vogue magazines. 'I think it's the best operating system we've seen out of Microsoft for a long time,' he said.
《名利场》(Vanity Fair)和Vogue杂志的出版方、Advance Publications旗下纽约出版公司Conde Nast的首席技术长西蒙(Joe Simon)是Windows 8的粉丝。他说，我觉得它是很长时间以来微软推出的最好的操作系统。

To save money, Condé Nast has stuck with 11-year-old Windows XP for most of the company's 3,000 Windows users, and Mr. Simon said he is enthusiastic to move to Windows 8 'as soon as possible.' The company has about 5,000 iPads in use; Mr. Simon said he is 'agnostic' about whether he will try to shift those iPad users to Windows tablets.
为了省钱，Conde Nast公司11年以来一直坚持让其3,000名Windows用户中的多数人使用Windows XP。西蒙说他非常希望公司尽快改用Windows 8。该公司有5,000部左右的iPad正在使用；西蒙说他“不知道”自己是否会试图让这些iPad用户改用Windows平板。

Spending on Windows devices still dwarfs the iPad, though use of Apple's device is growing at a rapid clip. Forrester estimates business spending on iPads will total nearly $10 billion this year, a 76% jump from 2011. Spending on Windows-based computers is projected to dip 3% to $124 billion.
企业采购Windows设备的花费仍然远高于iPad，不过iPad的使用正在快速增长。据Forrester估计，今年企业iPad支出总额将接近100亿美元，较2011年增长76%，而Windows电脑支出总额预计将为1,240亿美元，下降3%。

Microsoft and PC makers that are developing tablets to work with its new software say they offer a key advantage: the ability to run popular business software such as Microsoft's Word and Excel. Microsoft also says its software is better at letting technology managers electronically send new software applications to hundreds of Windows computers, or wipe corporate data from a lost or stolen tablet.
微软和开发Windows 8平板电脑的PC制造商说，Windows 8有一个至关重要的优势：它可以运行微软Word和Excel等流行企业软件。微软还说，Windows 8还使技术管理人员能够更加方便地通过网络将新的软件应用发送到数百台Windows电脑上，或从丢失、被盗的平板电脑中擦除公司数据。

'It's the tablet enterprise customers have been waiting for,' said Mr. Visser of Microsoft.
微软的维瑟说，这是企业客户一直在等待的平板电脑。

There is pressure for companies to shift from Windows XP, since Microsoft plans to end extended support for the software in April 2014. Yet Barclays Capital, in surveys of corporate chief information officers, says it has found more desire for customers to upgrade to Windows 7 rather than Windows 8 over the next year.
企业也有升级Windows XP的压力，因为微软打算在2014年4月结束对这款操作系统的后续支持。但巴克莱资本(Barclays Capital)在对企业IT负责人的调查中发现，未来一年用户更愿意升级为Windows 7而不是Windows 8。